Page 43 of Desperate Pucker (Denver Bashers #6)

Maddy

“You don’t have to take the trash out,” I say when I see Ryker head toward the front door with a garbage bag.

He just keeps walking. “It’s no problem.”

When he heads out, my mom turns to me, her smile knowing. “Darlin’, are you sure he’s just a friend?”

I try to fight the smile that pulls at my mouth, but it’s no use. I’m a terrible liar, and my mom can always tell when I’m hiding something.

“Okay, fine. We’re a little more than friends.”

Mom squeezes my hand and gives me a giddy smile.

“Don’t get too excited,” I say. “It’s not serious.”

She raises her eyebrow at me. “Madeline, I saw the way he looks at you. And the way he calls you Maddy. Cute little nickname. That young man adores you.”

I bite my lip. “He actually bought that dress for me. And arranged a private shopping session for me.”

Mom’s eyes go wide. A massive grin splits her face. “A man doesn’t take a woman dress shopping and buy her the most glamorous gown if he isn’t interested in getting serious with her.”

I shake my head, but her words stick with me. I wonder if she’s right. This afternoon with Ryker felt like a lot more than just two friends who hook up sometimes.

It’s fun pretending to be yours, princess.

Just thinking about what he said sends tingles through my body. He was probably teasing me when he said that…but I wonder if there’s a part of him that meant it…if there’s a part of him that doesn’t want to pretend…if he wants to be mine for real…

I set the thought aside to obsess about later.

“Mom, you know I’ve been skittish about relationships ever since the way things ended with Sergei.”

She pats my hand. “I know that, darlin’. And I understand. Getting your heart broken can wreck you. I know that first hand.”

I squeeze her hand.

“But Madeline, you’re young. Too young to let one heartbreak make you jaded forever.”

I’m quiet for a moment. “I just don’t want to get hurt again.”

“No one does. But that’s love. It’s a risk. Sometimes it works out. Sometimes it doesn’t. But if it does work out, it’s worth it.”

When Ryker walks back in, Bruce wakes up from his nap on the other end of the couch, hops off, and scurries over to him. He meows at Ryker, then rubs his face on his ankles. Ryker smiles down at Bruce, then walks into the kitchen to grab him some treats.

Mom gently elbows me. “Bruce likes him. That’s a good sign.” She stands up. “I think it’s time for me to head out. I’ve taken up enough of y’all’s afternoon.”

I hug Mom and thank her for the biscuits. Ryker gives her a hug too, and I walk her out. When I close the door and turn to Ryker, he’s sitting on the couch with Bruce on his lap, purring loudly. My heart melts.

“I thought you weren’t a cat person,” I tease.

Ryker scratches under his chin. “This guy’s growing on me.”

I sit next to him on the couch and kiss him. “Thanks for being such a good sport about my Mom showing up unannounced. She does that sometimes.”

“Of course. She’s a really sweet lady. And a really good cook.”

“She liked you a lot.”

A soft smile pulls at Ryker’s face. “Yeah?”

“Oh, yeah. You won her over with your cooking and baking abilities. And the fact that you took me shopping.”

After a second, his smile fades. “Hey, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Your mom mentioned working as a line cook when she was pregnant with you to support herself. Did your dad not offer to help her out? She was carrying his baby.”

My shoulders fall when I sigh. “He wasn’t happy when my mom found out she was pregnant with me. He refused to help her until she took a paternity test and proved that I was biologically his.”

Anger flashes in Ryker’s rich brown eyes. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

I shake my head. “He wasn’t even willing to be in the delivery room when I was born.” A lump lodges in my throat. “She got a paternity test shortly after that. That’s when he started getting more involved. Visiting me, paying child support, all that.”

“What an asshole,” he mutters. A second later, he closes his eyes and shakes his head. “Sorry, I know he’s your dad, but he’s garbage for doing that.”

“No, you’re right. He was a jerk. I’ll never forgive him for making my mom go through her pregnancy and delivery alone.”

Ryker grabs my hand and laces his fingers in mine. “I’m sorry, Maddy. And I’m sorry for your mom, too. Neither of you deserved to be treated like that.”

“He’s tried to make up for that in his own way. I never had to worry about money the way that a lot of people did. I’m grateful for that.”

“Maddy, he’s your dad. A dad should take care of his kids financially, no matter what. Just because he gave you a lot of money doesn’t make up for what a jerk he was to you and your mom.”

Emotion swells in my chest at the way Ryker comforts me, at the way he’s defending me and my mom.

I lean forward and kiss him softly. He kisses back with urgency, his tongue tangling with mine.

“Wanna go to my bed?” I ask against his mouth.

“Yeah,” he murmurs.

A second later, he slides Bruce off his lap, then hauls me over his shoulder. I squeal, those tingles from earlier flashing all over my body the whole way there.

“Damn, we look hot,” Bella says.

I laugh while touching up my lipstick in the mirror. I look up at her. “Do we?”

She nods. “Oh, definitely.”

“We’re not even in our dresses yet,” Ingrid chuckles.

“That’s how great we all look. We don’t even need clothes,” Bella says. We all laugh.

Bella invited me, Ingrid, Maya, Sophie, Dakota, and Abby to get ready for Casino Night in her hotel suite. For the past couple of hours, we’ve been helping each other do our hair and makeup in the massive bathroom.

Ingrid checks the time. “Okay, ladies. We should put our dresses on now so we’re not late.”

Everyone slips into their gowns. We help each other zip up, then slip on our heels.

“I like how we all went for jewel tones,” Maya says.

She’s wearing a ruby-red gown with a single off-the-shoulder strap. Ingrid, who’s wearing a cobalt-blue hi-low-style dress, walks up to Maya and smooths a flyaway hair from her face.

When everyone’s dressed, Ingrid holds up her phone. “Selfie time!”

We huddle around Ingrid, and she holds up her phone with her long arms, snapping a bunch of photos.

We head out of the hotel suite and down the hall to a massive staircase that leads down to the main part of the venue, where Casino Night is being held.

“Just texted Del,” Ingrid says. “The guys are already one drink in at the bar.”

“I’m jealous of how quickly guys can get dressed,” Abby says. I stop to help her fix the zipper of her silky, burnt orange floor-length dress. “When I asked Gavin how long he was going to take to get ready, he said ten minutes,” she says.

Sophie chuckles. “Yup. That’s my dad.”

She walks next to me and smiles. “Team pink!” she says, holding up her hand.

I chuckle as I high-five her. “You look so pretty,” I say. “That color of pink is beautiful on you.”

She beams and skims a hand along the front of her satin gown, which is a rose-pink color. “Where did you get your dress? It’s stunning.”

“Kara Salonga’s boutique,” I say.

“That’s where I got mine too,” Dakota says. She smiles down at the strapless plum-hued gown she’s wearing. “Did you go during her opening weekend? I can’t believe we didn’t see each other.”

I fight a smile. “I went before it opened, actually. Ryker took me.”

All the ladies look at me.

“He did?” Bella asks. I nod.

“He, um, asked Kara Salonga to open the shop early so I could go shopping.” My face heats just remembering how thoughtful and romantic that was.

They all stop talking and look at me.

“You two are definitely hooking up,” Bella says while adjusting the strap of her black midi-length dress. Ingrid gently nudges her, but she doesn’t even notice.

I glance around, making sure there’s no one around us. Part of me doesn’t want to divulge what Ryker and I are doing because we promised each other to keep things private…but they’re my friends. It feels wrong to lie to them.

I look at them, my cheeks sore from smiling. “Yeah. We are.”

They all squeal and crowd around me in a group hug.

“I could tell something was going on between you two in Montreal,” Sophie says.

Ingrid nods. “Yeah, he was looking at you a lot in that protective, yearning way that guys do when they’re totally into you. Especially that night at the bar when that random guy was hitting on you.”

I let out a flustered laugh, a little embarrassed at how quickly they picked up on all that.

“So you’re officially together then?” Dakota asks.

I shake my head. “We’re just friends having fun.”

Bella laughs. “Famous last words,” Maya says.

I remember that the two of them started as friends with benefits with their guys too.

“We’re just friends,” I say again. “And not to be a buzzkill, but we promised to keep things private between us,” I say.

“Say no more. We get it,” Ingrid says. They all nod.

Sophie beams. “We’re just really happy for you.”

“Yeah. Get it, girl.” Bella pats my back, and I burst out laughing.

We make our way down the staircase and see the crowd of people filtering into the ballroom where Casino Night is being held. I follow the ladies to the bar, where the guys are. I spot them standing around in their tuxes, sipping on drinks.

“Wow. Hockey players clean up well,” I murmur to Sophie.

She chuckles. “Don’t they? Especially your guy.”

I follow her gaze and see Ryker standing off to the side. My breath lodges in my throat, and my eyes go wide.

Oh. My. GOD.

My brain glitches.

His thick, espresso-brown hair is combed back, and his beard is trimmed. There’s still a healthy sheet of stubble on his cheeks, which I love. He still looks ruggedly sexy but polished too. Especially in that tux.

The dark fabric is tailored perfectly to his broad, tall form—like it was made for his body. He looks more like a male model than a hockey player.

Heat gathers in my core. I can barely take how insanely good he looks right now.

He turns, his eyes snagging on me. His jaw unhinges as his gaze runs along the length of me.

My stomach does a somersault at just how much he likes seeing me in this dress.

Grinning, I walk up to him. “Hey there, handsome.”